January 20th - Third places

Right now I'm sitting in my new 'third place' - the Starbucks in my street.. my street..hmm it almost sounds like a mixture of a lie and a bad joke..and at the same time it is not. My new roommate is sitting across the table. She is doing her homework for FIT - fashion school. Reading my lovely book 'Why we buy' I'm grateful not to have to do any homework for a while.
Starbucks really does feel like my 'third place'..and I am starting to relax a bit and enjoy the sounds of different conversations and the occasional milk-heater/foamer.

Rough day today...woke up thinking "WHAT HAVE I DONE??" leaving my warm home, parents, friends, family..leaving Familiarity (read the book 'the DreamGiver') to be all alone in this huge city..to start all over - what was I thinking. So I called my sister crying - scaring my brother-in-law half to death. He picked up the phone first..I just wanted to talk to someone who knows me and knows I'll get through this..And who can do a better job than your sister? Well, MY sister! :) After an hour conversation with lots of encouragments I watched Obama's inauguration. It was beautiful, peaceful, hopeful, but it will take time and dedication to make it reality, America.
Then I went out..stepped out in a new world looking for things I need - bank account, social security number, phone number and a place to copy forms... To find a place to copy forms in a city you don't know is a challenge in a separate category. And asking people hasn't proven to be very helpful: after the bank clerk told me to go to Staples and pointed in a vague direction I decided to ask a man on the street. Walking up to him I asked "Can I ask you a question?" he stepped a little closer to hear better, so I continued "Do you know where I can find Staples. I need to make copies"... He answered "No hablo íngles".... No hablo íngles..well I speak a little tiny bit Spanish, but 4 semesters have not prepared me enough to be able to ask where I can find Staples!! Decided to go home and look it up online - yay for Google Maps!!
Back home I called my parents - crying- freaking them out. We decided that being tired from traveling, jet-lag and not eating enough exhausted me to the point of total break down.. also it seems that emotionally things have caught up with me. For some weird reason this whole ordeal did not feel real even when I stepped out of the plane and dragged my 2 suitcases across town. And today I met the man with the hammer of Reality: I'm in New York City, learning a million things..and tomorrow I'll start again.